


That Would Be Enough

by GinnyK



Series: The World Turned Upside Down [7]
Category: Bull (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, s03 e03 Excessive Force
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-13
Updated: 2018-10-13
Packaged: 2019-08-01 06:38:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16279550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GinnyK/pseuds/GinnyK
Summary: Post ep for Season 3 Episode 3 Excessive Force.





	That Would Be Enough

**Author's Note:**

> Thought I'd change things up a bit and do a story from Bull's POV.
> 
> Don't tell anyone, but I wrote this at work today!!
> 
> Lines stolen from Lin-Manuel Miranda, Aaron Sorkin and Pretty Woman.

I dip my chin and mutter a good bye to the Prosecutor as she pats my chest and walks past me.  Maybe I should have accepted her offer.  Not the drink part but the getting out and being social with someone of the opposite sex part.  But then again, as I said to Marissa when I was home recovering, I think a relationship is probably the last thing I need.  Who am I kidding, after the last week or so it is most definitely the last thing I need.  I need to get my personal crap together before even considering something else.

With a deep breath I head down the front steps of the courthouse, Alex and my car are waiting right out front.  Bless his little soul; Alex is holding a cup of coffee for me.  I accept it with a smile and take a large, satisfying sip.

“You ready?” he asks as he opens my door for me.  It’s not part of his job but I’ve been unable to shake him of the habit.  And if he can live with it, so can I.  I do slide over so he doesn’t have to step around into traffic to get into the car.  One glance at him and I can tell he’s practically bursting with unasked questions.  He had to head home to Andy last night and wasn’t around for my brilliant conclusions which explained all of the actions of our little cop and her accomplice.  “That was….that was unbelievable.  How did you figure that out?” he asks with unbridled enthusiasm which is so nice to see.  Sometimes I feel myself and others at TAC getting rather jaded about what we do.

On the ride back to the office I explain everything that led me questioning the actions of both of them and ultimately to the unbelievable plan they’d hatched in an effort to make themselves rich at the expense of the New York City Police Department. He’s beyond impressed.  When I’m done my story he’s quiet, I’m sure rerunning my explanation in his mind.  I take a minute to close my eyes.  Traffic is heavy and I’m okay with that.  I could use a few minutes of peace and quiet.  I’m vaguely aware of Alex grabbing the coffee out of my hand in an effort to keep me from spilling it on my pants.

“Bull, Bull…Jason.” Alex’s voice brings me back awake as the car pulls up to the curb half a block from TAC.  “You awake?” he asks.  I nod a little and run my hand of over mouth in case of drool.  He hands back my coffee and we scoot out of the car.

The half a block of fresh air does little to clear my head and I am completely out of sorts, for reasons I can’t quite pinpoint, as we get on the elevator.  I’m sure Alex has noticed but he says nothing on the ride up.

The elevator opens and I’ve now pinpointed the reason for my mood. 

Marissa.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to see her but she doesn’t look too thrilled to see me.  You see, as the trial ended and things came to light she wasn’t her normally chatty self in my ear.  She gave a curt, “nice job” and cut off communication with me.  It’s a rare case where we are on completely opposite sides of a case.  But it does happen.

 

I give her a big, genuine smile as I step off the elevator.

“Bull,” she mutters in my direction as she heads off towards the kitchen without a second glance.  I look over my shoulder at Alex and the look on his face lets me know that interaction did not get past him.

With a deep breath I head for my office.  Alex slips behind his desk, knowing me well enough already to give me a little space to work through things in my head.  Now is of course the point in the day where two months ago liquor would be involved.  But for now the rest of my coffee will have to do.  I slip my suit jacket off and loosen my tie while trying to take a few deep breaths to calm myself a bit. 

A few more minutes of brooding at the window and I turn my computer on to do some work.  Alex wanders in a few times with phone messages and my mail.  I can tell he’s trying not to hover and to his credit he’s doing a pretty good job.

He peeks his head in a little after 2:00.  And I know what he’s about to ask.

“You hungry?” he asks quietly, hanging in the doorway.

And I was correct.

“Not particularly but I will eat something.  You going out to get something?”

“I can if you want,” he offers.

“Soup.  Nothing weird, chicken noodle, beef vegetable, something like that.”

“So nothing with kale or quinoa?” he teases.

“Exactly.”

While Alex runs out for food I pace for a minute before grabbing my earbuds and sitting on the couch for “rest time” as Marissa calls it. 

And speaking of Marissa, I haven’t seen nor heard from her since I saw her for a fleeting second when I got back from the courthouse.  She emailed me something about a potential case but that was it.  I’d wander over to her office if I had any clue what to say to her.  Our relationship during this case has been cool and professional, her little comments on the coms during court notwithstanding.  It was the first case in a long time where we’ve effectively tucked away our personal relationship.  I won’t take all the blame for it, nor will I place it all on her.  Like all aspects of our relationship, it was truly a team effort.

Alex returns with chicken orzo soup and a buttered hard roll.  I tug a little on the cord to the earbuds, pulling them out of my ears and tossing them on the couch.  I motion for Alex to have a seat and eat with me.  He pulls out his cheeseburger and for the first time since the heart attack, it doesn’t bother me.  That probably has more to do with me feeling a little nauseous than me getting used to eating a healthy diet.

“Marissa’s been locked in her office ever since we got back,” he mutters, without looking at me.

“Okay,” I mutter after basically choking on a mouthful of soup.  Alex and I have never really discussed the unconventional and complex relationship Marissa and I have.  That’s not to say he doesn’t have a good handle on it.  He certainly does, hence the comment he just threw out with a smirk.

“I guess the two or you are usually on the same page when it comes to the cases TAC takes on.”

“For the most part we are.  And even when we aren’t at first we usually end up agreeing by the time we’ve worked out our strategy and we’re about to pick a jury.  This time around, not so much.”

“That would explain the lack of time she’s spent in your office these last two weeks.  And your brooding demeanor,” he adds under his breath with a chuckle.

I chuckle right back, because it’s all true. 

“So go talk to her,” he urges as he takes a bite of his burger.

“If I had any clue what to say I would.  Part of me hopes it will just blow over and a bigger part of me knows that’s not very likely to happen.”

“Just try, you say a few words, you make a gesture.  I’m pretty sure that would be enough,” Alex suggests.

“You might be right.  Can you call her and see if she’s free?” I ask as I reach to finish my soup.

“Since you seem to be too chicken to call her yourself, I will,” he snorts.  “But you’re going to see her, I’m not going to summon her over here and have to watch through the window as you stumble around,” he teases.

“Remind me why I hired you,” I tease right back.

“Cause you think I got a lot of potential and I can put up with you.”

“Yeah, yeah.  Now that we’ve quoted Sports Night, Hamilton and Pretty Woman in a span of 2 minutes, it is time to get back to work.”

Alex cleans up the remains on his lunch and heads for his office.  “I’ll see if she’s free in 15 minutes,” he calls over his shoulder.

*****

It’s almost 3:30 by the time I head to Marissa’s office.  I roll up the sleeves of my shirt and run my fingers through my hair a few times, to fix it or mess it up a little, I’m not too sure.

Alex gives me a big smile and a thumbs up as I pass by.  I stop by the kitchen and grab Marissa a few cookies from the cabinet where she’s been hiding them in since I returned to work. 

I knock quietly on her door, which is so not like me at all.

“You can come in Jason,” she calls without looking up from her computer.  I’m not sure that’s a good sign.  With a deep breath I push the door all the way open and walk in.  I sit in the chair in front of her desk, propping my feet on the corner of her desk.

“Is this a social call?” she asks, barely looking at me.

“Uh not sure, you know our social and professional lives are more than a bit blurred,” I spit out, suddenly regretting going for smart ass.  That got her attention and she gently closes her laptop and pushes it out of the way. 

Can I just say I’m a little scared at the moment?

“Here,” I mutter as I hand her the cookies I brought for her.  She takes them with a smile.

“You found the hiding place?” she asks with a small smile.

“Yes,” I answer as I return the smile.  Maybe that was enough of a gesture.  She tries to hand one back to me and I decline with a little shake of my head.

“So lines haven’t exactly been blurred these last few weeks,” she says as she carefully tucks her dress under her before kicking off her shoes and propping her feet on the desk, mirroring my position.

“No, it’s been all professional, no personal,” I say simply.

“Don’t for a minute think I’ve enjoyed it,” she says with an edge of something in her voice.

“I don’t, Riss,” I say quietly, not sure how this conversation seems to be heading off the rails so quickly.

“I’m sorry, Jason.  That came out wrong.  Of course I didn’t enjoy it.  But I just felt it was best since we were so not on the same page with this one.”

“I understand completely.  It sucked.”

“But you were right, it wasn’t about race.  It was about greed, nothing more.  And I’m sorry for not being there last night as you worked through it,” she says with a sad smile.

“It’s okay.  If I had really wanted you to stay and help out, I would have asked you to.”

She nods her understanding.  We’re quiet for a minute.  She has music playing from her phone and we just listen to that for a bit.  I can’t speak for her but I have no idea what to say right now.  I fidget a bit in my seat, fiddling with the end of my tie, crossing and uncrossing my legs.  She glares at me a little, an unspoken suggestion to sit still.  One she gives me on a regular basis.

“What’s it going to take to get past this?” I eventually ask.

“Nothing.  It was a case, we disagreed.  It’s over.  Not everything has to be a big deal.  We’ll move on, just as we always do.  The fact that you even considered something was wrong, that would be enough. The fact that you felt you needed to come in here and talk, that was more than enough,” she says simply.

I smile at the phrase “that would be enough” as it echoes Alex’s earlier remarks. 

“What are you smiling about?” she asks as she pulls her feet off the desk and stands up.

“Oh that would take too long to explain,” I mutter.

She comes out from behind the desk and stands behind me for a second.  With a quick glance over her shoulder at the bullpen she realizes nobody can see us at the moment.  She puts her hands on my shoulders and kisses the top of my head. 

It is the first crossing of the boundaries we set in place when I returned to work. 

“I want the record to reflect that you crossed the boundaries first,” I tease as I reach up and give her hand a squeeze.

“Yeah, I knew I would cave first,” she laughs as she moves to stand in front of me.  She pulls me to my feet and smooths down my tie.  “Give me a minute to gather my things and I’ll meet you in the war room.  We’re moving on to the next case,” she announces as she pats my chest and turns me towards the door.

I give her a big genuine smile and this time, she gives me one back.

*********

Alex looks up expectantly as I walk to my office.  I smile and give him a big high five.

I stand in the middle of my office and take a few deep breaths, really relaxing for the first time in over a week.  Sure feels nice.


End file.
